San Rafael community rallies to support child who has leukemia

It was mid-July when Cassandra Ortelle lay down with her 7-year-old son on his bed at Oakland's Kaiser hospital and asked him if he had any questions. When he said no, she told him she was proud of him and that he needed to stay strong and take his medicine so that his blood could get healthy.

Vincent Ortelle had been diagnosed with leukemia and spent the week in the hospital.

"I told him that he would be OK and that the doctors would help him to get his blood healthy," Cassandra Ortelle said.

What Ortelle, 31 and a single mother, didn't know at the time was the outpouring of support she and her son would receive from community members and her co-workers at Peter Levi Plumbing in San Rafael.

Shop owners Cheyenne and Peter Levi have helped organize a "fair-style" fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday in the alley between Fourth Street and Peter Levi Plumbing, 1818 Second St., in the West End area of downtown San Rafael.

"I was completely surprised," said Ortelle, a dispatcher at Peter Levi Plumbing. "Every day I'm surprised by the efforts Cheyenne is putting for this. Literally, she has changed the course of our lives in a very positive way."

Cheyenne Levi has spent 150 hours over the past month reaching out to San Rafael businesses and local bands to put together Sunday's fair. For an entrance fee of $5 per adult and free admission for children, fairgoers will experience live music from local bands — Firewheel, The Greening, Rumors and The Connies — a bounce house for kids, and live raffle for items donated by Il Davide restaurant, Cain's Tires, Dharma Trading Co., Classic Billiards, National Appliance, The Mayflower Pub, Mercury Wines, Manzanita Creek Winery, Hairfax Studio and more.

Food booths will serve Hog Island oysters and pulled pork sandwiches, with all proceeds going to Vincent's medical fund. Napoli Pizza will also be selling pizza; half the pizza proceeds will go to Vincent's fund. Wine and beer will also be served, with 15 percent of proceeds going to Milo Foundation for providing the liquor license.

"Making it a fair was a way of making this scary time into something fun and upbeat, turning it into something positive and bringing back their sunshine," Cheyenne Levi said. "The community has just come together."

Levi said she does not have a specific fundraising goal in mind; she said her intent was to make the fair affordable to the community while raising money for the Ortelles.

"The big goal was to raise some money for Cassandra and for Vincent for their care and living expenses," Levi said. "My goal was to have the community come out and have fun and make it a big event."

"It's very humbling to receive so much generosity from people," Ortelle said. "I can't say no, because it's my son."

Vincent will continue chemotherapy for the next couple of years, and the outlook is positive, Ortelle said. His cancer recently went into remission and Ortelle said his type of leukemia has a 90 percent cure rate.

"What (the fair) means is instead of just thinking we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, there is light at the end of the tunnel," Ortelle said.